Land and Watershed Management

Genetic and Silvicultural Foundations for Management

Stand and Landscape Visualization Models and Forest Operations

Two Team members, Bob McGaughey and Steve Reutebuch, participate in the Cooperative for Forest-Systems Engineering, located on the campus of the University of Washington. Information and computer software pertaining to timber harvest planning, stand and landscape visualization, and landscape analysis is available at:

http://forsys.cfr.washington.edu

One of the software programs developed by Bob McGaughey is the Stand Visualization System (SVS).SVS generates graphic images depicting stand conditions represented by a list of individual stand components, e.g., a list of trees, shrubs, and down material. These images help communicate stand conditions, silvicultural treatments, and forest management alternatives to a variety of audiences.

Sample output of SVS

Before Thinning Each tree species can be shown in a different color; In this example, Douglas-fir crowns are green, western hemlock are light brown, and red alder are red. Snags are pink and exaggerated in height to make them more visible.

After Thinning This after-thinning example shows what a variable density thinning might look like. Small openings (gaps) and unthinned patches are part of the planned thinning which was designed to increase spatial heterogenity.

USDA Forest Service - GenSilv Team
Last Modified: Wednesday, 14 March 2012 at 21:39:06 EDT